ORC research fellow is SET for Britain in Parliament

ORC research fellow, Dr Katrina Morgan, is attending Parliament on March 7 to present her engineering research to a range of politicians and a panel of expert judges, as part of SET for Britain.

Katrina, who has just completed her PhD in Nanotechnology, was encouraged to apply for the SET for Britain competition by her supervisor, Professor Dan Hewak.

She is presenting a poster on her research into new types of ultra-fast computer memory, that are highly tolerable to extreme doses of ionizing radiation. Her work will be judged against dozens of other scientists’ and engineers’ research in the only national competition of its kind. Katrina was shortlisted from hundreds of applicants to appear in Parliament. She said:

"SET for Britain perfectly encompasses my passion for science, outreach, and personal interest in politics. This event is an excellent opportunity to present UK scientific research and its worldwide impact to politicians. It complements the other outreach initiatives at the University of Southampton for local schools and residents and will hopefully contribute to increased interaction between scientific experts, politicians and the general public.

"I believe it is of the utmost importance to ensure that a high level of communication stays open between the scientists and MPs, so that science-based decisions, such as on the science budget and Brexit, are based upon high quality, relevant and up-to-date evidence.

"As an active member of Athena SWAN, I also hope to engage politicians in a discussion over incredibly important gender equality issues that still exist within science and engineering today."

Katrina’s research has been entered into the Engineering session of the competition, which will end in a gold, silver and bronze prize-giving ceremony. Judged by leading academics, the gold medalist receives £3,000, while silver and bronze receive £2,000 and £1,000 respectively.

The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee runs the event, which takes place this year on March 7th, in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Biology, The Physiological Society and the Council for Mathematical Sciences, with financial support from Essar, the Clay Mathematics Institute, Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), the Institute of Biomedical Science, the Bank of England and the Society of Chemical Industry.